If you do not take an active interest in your vehicle, then yes it can be bad. Be passionate about your new vehicle and she will reward you well.

 

Beats the heck out of Asian designs with water pump driven by timing belts. One locked up $30 pump and you need a whole valve job. You can pick apart the design of any vehicle, you can go to the junk yard and find plenty vehicles of most brands and types. All put there early usually by neglect of owners. Some times fiscal reality has descended on the owner like a cloud, and no money for having the toy serviced. Or spite, I once looked over a Mercedes that she got in the divorce, 90K, and he had still made the payments. She never changed the oil on "his" car.

Aside from prior owner procrastination, the "mad men" in ad department "add" to the problem by touting lower cost of ownership, and increasing the intervals between service. So in an LR3, you look at front differential, 10 years or 150,000 miles drain interval. Way past warranty, so who cares? The fluid capacity is about 1/3 that of a D1. The LR3 weighs 1300 pounds more, and has a more powerful engine. It is splash lubrication. The diff will cost you $2200 plus at the dealer. Some D1 owners change diff oil every year, some after a weekend of wading. Both diffs have vent lines so fluid is exposed to air, heated, stirred, cooled, condensation, etc. Look at every fluid change interval in a modern vehicle and consider reducing it because of arduous service (mom's taxi and the school-soccer-waiting in traffic).

 

Extended intervals for fluid changes is just asking for trouble. Many of 08 / 09 LR3 I've been looking at have MINIMAL service done. Most are leased, so the leasee isn't going to go the extra mile for a vehicle they don't own. Makes me wonder to about the fuel they use (*~*). I am really going to be picky about my LR3 and its history.

 

Europe does this too. Volvo and Audi at least.

 

Very true. And I once sported an Audi 5000, and am familiar with all the things that put the "oww" in Audi.... fuel pump, hydraulic pump leaks, door handles made out of margarine, .....

 

Simple thing to consider is that they are made, designed and generally owned by blokes who spend their time fettling in sheds.

If you can weld (or want to learn) accept that every job you start will undoubtedly involve the grinder at some point (including changing the wiper blades), are keen to be on first name terms with the folks at the local recovery company, have some perverse delight in laying under the bloody thing in the worst weather (coz it never goes wrong when its nice) have a (or are looking to develop) a large and extensive selection of tools and accept that your wife will hate it (and you) as you spend so much time making it go then its the vehicle for you.

But when the weathers crap and you've got decent rubber on it you'll be the only thing moving on the roads and when the wife/kids/workmates and foolish motorists need rescuing that green oval will be there - leaking oil/electricity/iron oxide and get you home.

 

My .02 I purchased a well used 05 LR3 that had over 130K miles on it. I knew going in, that there might be a few items needing repair/ replacement, so I checked and double checked the systems, only to be rewarded with catastrophic air suspension failure. After making this right, the Rover was lost to an underhood fire, about 45 seconds worth, that easily totaled the truck.
I guess I'm a bit jaded, because for 20 years I had a Mitsubishi Montero in the stable, and had less than 1/3 of the maintenance required. However, when you close the door of the Rover, fire it up, put it in gear, and go, there's really nothing quite like it, and I'll miss that feeling most of all.

 

I trust no vehicle more than my DiscoII. Never once left me stranded, and has been through hell and back multiple times. I'd confidently jump in it in the next hour and drive it across the country without worry.

 

Just joined this forum and enjoyed reading this thread.
Maybe LR has a reputation for poor reliability, but reputations lag behind the reality.
The modern ones (at least the Defender) are far more reliable than the earlier ones from the 70s and 80s. I started my driving life on a '64 109 2.25 petrol and had it 20 years but the big problem was always rust, particularly to the rear of the chassis, and the steel bulkhead. But this seems to have been resolved on the modern ones.
I've had an '05 Defender from new and service it myself (fluids more frequently than recommended) and it's given no trouble at all.
The Defender is an old design but still a popular utility vehicle, at least in the UK. Many of you enthusiasts will have seen the replacement vehicle proposed for the Defender, which was frankly dreadful. There was an outcry here when the new design was unveiled, aimed largely at the US market. But focus groups in the US gave it a firm 'thumbs down' and because of that, the design has thankfully been dropped. So we have you Yanks to thank for that! Hopefully common sense will prevail and LR keeps making the venerable old utility.

 

Thanks for your post.

Can you tell me about your experience with check engine light and sensors needing to be replaced and using used sensors?